This study assessed the behavioral outcomes of Coronavirus 2019 (COVID-19) social distancing protocols and their influences on mental health. An online survey hosted by Survey Monkey was utilized to collect data from residents of three Ghanaian cities of Accra, Kumasi and Tamale. A total of 621 surveys were analyzed, with a sensitivity analysis utilized to select covariates for the regression model. The average age of participants was about 36 years. Findings indicate that reduced physical activity time and a change in sexual activity and smoking frequency are some short-term changes in behavior resulting from social isolation during the lockdown. An increase in sedentary behavior had a negative influence on mental health. For the most part, changes in behaviors in the short-term were associated with lower mental health scores. The study implied that COVID-19 social distancing measures should be implemented alongside public education for discouraging unhealthy changes in behaviors.

Social media adoption has been phenomenal especially among the youth. This study seeks to examine the effect of perceived usefulness, perceived ease of use and gender on social media adoption. The survey research design was used in this study to provide a basis for the generalisation of the findings of this study. The respondents were mostly youth and were selected using convenience sampling technique. Data was analysed using multiple regression. The findings indicate that, perceived usefulness and perceived ease of use significantly predict social media adoption. However, there is no significant difference between males and females on adoption of social media. The implications of the results for the youth, teachers, technologist, marketers and developers of information systems have been put forward.

PurposeThis paper aims at investigating how tourist experience elicits satisfaction and contributes to loyalty and willingness to pay more for a museum destination. The study also investigates the significant moderating role of visiting frequency on the relationship between satisfaction and willingness to pay more.Design/methodology/approachThe research was conducted with 385 tourists who visited the National Museum in Ghana and answered questions relating to experience, satisfaction, loyalty, and willingness to pay more. Structural equation modelling was used to test the relationships and effects of the adapted constructs.FindingsThe results revealed the significant effects of tourist experience on satisfaction, as well as the significant effects of satisfaction on loyalty and willingness to pay more. In addition, a significant moderating effect of visiting frequency was reported on the relationship between satisfaction and tourist willingness to pay more.Research limitations/implicationsThe research is destination-specific. The application of the findings to other museums would demand a bigger sample size for generalisation to be made.Practical implicationsManagers should develop strategies that promote museum tourist travelling experience, satisfaction, desire and choice, and thereby attract more tourists to museum sites.Originality/valueThe research contributes to the growing literature on museum tourist experience as an important variable in promoting tourist satisfaction, loyalty, and tourist willingness to pay more.

The objective of the study was to examine the factors influencing consumers' choice of bottled drinking water. The survey research design was employed. Questionnaire was used as the data collections instrument. The items measuring the constructs were adapted from the extant literature. A sample size of two hundred and forty (240) bottled water consumers answered the questionnaire. Data was analysed using ANOVA and correlation test. The Statistical Package for Social Sciences Software was used to analyse the data. The results show that there is a relationship between age categories, income groups, educational levels and bottled water buying behaviour in the Ghanaian market. Again, the study found a relationship between perception and beliefs of bottled water usage. Furthermore, quality, brand price, availability and package were found to influence consumers' choice of bottled water. Recommendations have been provided at the end of the study. Studies of this nature are very rare in Ghana making this study novel.

Withdrawing from social activities abruptly can be associated with anxiety and mental health struggles, but this behavior is unavoidable when an infectious disease such as Coronavirus 2019 (COVID-19) is spreading. With many governments taking to social distancing protocols, short-term changes in behaviors and their influences on health are expected. This study adopted a correlational research approach to assess the behavioral outcomes of the social distancing protocols and its influences on mental health. An online survey hosted by Survey Monkey was utilized to collect data from residents of three cities under a COVID-19 mandatory lockdown. A total of 621 surveys were analyzed using descriptive statistics and multiple linear regression analysis, with a sensitivity analysis utilized to select potential covariates for the final regression model. Findings indicate that reduced physical activity time, increased sedentary behavior time, and a change in sexual activity and smoking frequency are some short-term changes in behavior resulting from social isolation during the lockdown. An increase in sedentary behavior made a negative influence on mental health (β = -0.85; t = -46.76, p = 0.000). The only change in behavior that has a positive influence on mental health is substance use. For the most part, changes in behaviors in the short-term attributable to COVID-19 social isolation were associated with lower mental health scores. Our findings imply that COVID-19 social distancing measures should be rolled out alongside public education programs for discouraging unhealthy changes in behaviors.